A couple of columns on the governor’s race: Black bashed, gimmickry noted

U.S. Rep. Diane Black’s recent criticism of weak kneed Republicans in Nashville, delivered at a gubernatorial campaign forum, didn’t resonate with Frank Cagle. Here are the first and last paragraphs of his column on the subject:

Congresswoman Diane Black has a lot of gall, I’ll give her that. She has come down from her leadership position in the dysfunctional U.S. House and criticized the “meek Republicans” in Nashville that run state government.

…Instead of praising the progress that has been made by her Republican colleagues and offering to build on it, Black has decided to appeal to the radical fringe around Nashville. If she can’t distinguish the difference in our state’s progress, as opposed to what she has been doing, she is too clueless to be governor.

On guber candidate theatrics

Robert Houk observes that candidate “gimmickry” of the past – Lamar Alexander walking across the state in 1978, Fred Thompson’s 1994 tour of Tennessee in a red pickup truck – is being echoed this year in “similar stunts” by Republican gubernatorial candidates Randy Boyd and Bill Lee, HERE. (Boyd is running across the state; Lee is touring Tennessee in a tractor.)

Note: It’s not a column, but The Tennessean has a report on Democrat Craig Fitzhugh venturing into solidly-Republican Williamson County that begins with a depiction of the House minority leader having “a Southern drawl and plucky spirit,” HERE. (Southern drawl?? Well, maybe compared to Karl Dean… but certainly not compared to the late Sen. Douglas Henry, D-Nashville.)